Typically unified policy necessitates a unified government, but some sophont species such as the Hivers are able to achieve unified policy without a conventional government. Hivers are near unique amongst the major races of Charted Space in this regard.

The K'kree, for instance, were largely motivated to form their first world-state by a competing sophont species while the Aslan were more motivated by climatological change, and their idea of a unified political presence is very different than many other sophont species.

The Terrans, on the other hand, fit a more conventional model, not truly unifying in an effective form until being threatened by the Ziru Sirka of the Vilani people, an exospecies of the same race even. And even then, the later Rule of Man still largely remained a faction of squabbling factors.